Murakami Cancels GEISAI#15 In The Wake Of The Tohoku Earthquake

Following the tragic events that resulted from the earthquake on March 11, 2011 in Japan, artist Takashi Murakami issued a statement cancelling GEISAI#15. The art festival, which houses works from professional and amateur artists, was set to open on March 13th in Tokyo.

The artists who have labored so hard preparing works for this day
have been forced to place their energy, passion, and hope on hold.
I fully understand how they feel.

Along with the GEISAI Executive Committee, I too have spent a full year
preparing for the event and thus, while it may have been caused by a
chance encounter with natural disaster, the end result has left me with
decidedly mixed feelings.

In light of this decision Murakami is proposing a twitter-based call-for-action from artists. He asks that we help send visual messages of support and encouragement by using the hashtag #newday_GEISAI. Already, hundreds of heartfelt messages and images have been posted on twitter. The theme?

Tomorrow will always arrive. The sun will always rise again.
A New day.